Mix and Match Meal Bundling includes Beer, Wine, Liquor

 

Do you want to make money selling more food and beverage at your retail outlet?  There is one clear way to do that.  Grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared meals are the quality and time saving families want but when you add the option to include beer, wine, or liquor your brand become a top-of-mind brand for consumers when they are looking for a meal, snack, or just a beverage according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

There is no doubt that restaurants offering to-go mugs, bottles and margarita glasses are here to stay, pushing restaurant owners to look beyond the bar for ways to elevate the customer experience. Long past a survival tactic, among restaurant operators that offer alcoholic beverages with takeout or delivery orders, roughly 9 in 10 offer it with takeout orders, cementing a line-item that already accounts for an average of 21% of sales among full-service restaurants.

Consider this, casual dining leads the way in off-premises options, with nearly all restaurants that serve alcohol including it as a takeout offering (90%) and over a quarter (26%) with their third-party delivery offerings. When it comes to who wants to-go alcohol, more than half of millennials (62%) and Gen Z adults (52%) report they would be more likely pick a restaurant for takeout if they could include alcohol beverages.

One again that is according to a new report from the National Restaurant Association which breaks down the latest data on alcohol trends and preferences among restaurant owners and consumers.

Michelle Korsmo, President & Chief Executive Officer of the National Restaurant Association, stated, “The innovation we are witnessing right now in beverage programs of all kinds is exactly why restaurants are some of the most resilient and impactful businesses in this country. These incredible operators have turned a survival tactic into a major growth catalyst for their businesses. Consumers are taking note and if we can continue to stay in front of their preferences, there is no limit to how far beverage trends can move the needle for the restaurant industry,”

Cocktails included in your recipe for success. Despite more than half (54%) of delivery customers stating that the availability of alcohol beverages would make them more likely to choose a restaurant, and the growing number of states extending or making permanent the to-go options for restaurants, only one-quarter of adults who opted for takeout or delivery from a restaurant during the last six months included an alcohol beverage in the order.

That leaves significant growth opportunities for restaurants, particularly in how they market, package, and differentiate their offerings, according to the report, which provides several examples and interviews from culinary innovators in several states leading the way on alcohol sales.

The report also reaffirms the Association’s prediction that local experiences would be this year’s hottest trend. Despite the emphasis on to-go options, consumers also expect local restaurants to offer experiential events. For example, both wine (81%) and beer (79%) drinkers say they would participate in tasting events at restaurants.

Finally, the report emphasizes the trust between consumers and restaurants, with most (82%) of adults that drink wine, beer and liquor saying they trust the staff at local restaurants to make good drink recommendations.

“The new alcohol to-go laws modernized state alcohol policy, and consumers can now enjoy more of the restaurant hospitality experience in the comfort of their own homes. As this report demonstrates, operators who innovatively connect the experiential aspects of their alcohol programs with a clear off-premises strategy are seeing enormous success with customers,” said Mike Whatley, Vice President of State Affairs and Grassroots Advocacy, National Restaurant Association.

Don’t over reach. Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing ideations look more like yesterday than tomorrow? Interested in learning how Foodservice Solutions® can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization?  Email us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or visit us on our social media sites by clicking the following links: Facebook,  LinkedIn, or Twitter

Takeout Alcohol is Becoming a Big Thing

 

If you were wondering what the next big thing in the retail space was, we have a clue, it is not just beer or wine delivery it is adding any or all alcohol to you take out order that appears to be driving larger ticket orders while creating new electricity if linked for C-stores, Grocery Stores, and Restaurants according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Incase you had not heard, online commerce platform Drizly partnered with Gopuff to provide immediate, on-demand delivery of alcoholic beverages to adults of legal drinking age, in the Arizona, Kentucky and Washington marketplaces driving new branded electricity for food retailers.

According to Johnson, “Brand relevance is in part driven with innovation in new food products in combination with new avenues of distribution all of which are the platform for the new electricity.” 

Johnson stated “that in my minds-eye the new electricity must be very efficient for the supply and includes such things as fresh foods, developing brands, grocerant positioning, fresh food messaging, autonomous delivery, cashier-less retail, plates, glasses, cash-less payments, digital hand-held marketing.

All retailers to survive the next generation of retail must embrace the artificial intelligence revolution while simultaneously embracing fresh food that is portable, fresh, with differentiation that is familiar not different. 

So, this partnership / collaboration will bring the full Gopuff Liquor & More assortment of beer, wine and spirits to Drizly's beverage shop, while also expanding the number of BevMo! and Liquor Barn stores on the platform. The agreement will increase Drizly's network of partners to offer delivery options for drinks, while also expanding Gopuff's reach by tapping into Drizly's customer base of alcohol shoppers. 

Blaine Grinna, Drizly's senior director of retail operations, stated, "As we continue to build the best shopping experience for beverage alcohol, teaming up with Gopuff is our next step in offering consumers convenient delivery options for drinks,"... "Drizly's infrastructure for alcohol e-commerce coupled with Gopuff's network of commerce locations will extend the ease of on-demand delivery of beer, wine and spirits nationwide and help even more customers of legal drinking age shop the best drinks for the moment."

Yes, there is more, in addition to bringing new Gopuff locations to the Drizly marketplace, Drizly will also add nearly 20 new BevMo! stores to its network — making notable expansions into Arizona and Washington — and increase the number of Liquor Barn stores available for rapid delivery across Kentucky.

Now this partnership intends to build upon Gopuff's addition to the Uber Eats app in 2021. The addition coincided with Uber's acquisition of Drizly in an approximately $1.1 billion deal. 

Gopuff Liquor & More, BevMo! and Liquor Barn stores are now available on Drizly's marketplace in 26 states, including Florida, Texas, New York, Indiana, Ohio and North Carolina. Consumers of legal drinking age can visit drizly.com or download the Drizly app to make purchases. 

In case you did not know, funded in 2012, Drizly is currently the largest online marketplace for alcohol in North America. It partners with thousands of retailers — including liquor stores, bodegas, specialty shops and convenience stores — to provide delivery in more than 1,400 cities across the United States and Canada. 

Are you looking for a new partnership to drive sales? Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing tactics look more like yesterday that tomorrow?  Visit GrocerantGuru.com for more information or contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us Remember success does leave clues and we just may have the clue you need to propel your continued success.

Restaurants Rebound with Rebranded Booze

 

Suggestive up-selling has always been a part of the Restaurant sector marketers, marketing toolkit.  In 2021, up-selling branded alcoholic beverages the ilk of TGI Fridays Orange Dream, Mudslide, or Long Island Iced Tea will drive branded relevance while giving the consumer just what they are asking for according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

According to a recent data analysis by Ibotta, the leading cash-back app helping people save money with their everyday purchases, there seems to be a lot of truth to this! If you have not checked Ibotta out I suggest you do.

Ibotta found, spirits and hard liquor are up the most with a 33% increase during the first part of the pandemic when compared with 2019 sales, followed by wine at a 12% increase. Surprisingly, beer sales overall are down, with a few exceptions! Here is what we know about pandemic alcohol sales based on data from Ibotta:

Beer: - Down 2% overall, with the following data for each subcategory

·         Flavored Malt Beverage: +37.4%

·         Non-Alcoholic Beer: +15.9%

·         Craft Import Beer: -17%

Spirits and Hard Liquor: Up 33% overall, with the following data for each subcategory

·         Liqueur: +75%

·         Brandy: +43%

·         Tequila: +40%

·         Whiskey: +39%

·         Vodka: +26%

·         Gin: +14%

·         Rum: +14%

Wine: Overall a 12% increase for all types combined, with the following subcategories

·         Flavored: +73%

·         Fortified: +51%

·         Red: +12%

·         Rice Wine: +37%

·         Rose: +24%

·         Sparkling: +5%

·         White: +9%

Suggestive selling is not offensive when you are simply reminding consumers what they want, or what they have missed by not being able go out to their favorite restaurant.  Local restaurants have local drinks, flavors, and brands consumers will welcome, while rewarding you with top line sales and bottom-line profits. So, mix a drink, invent a drink, brand a local drink with Brandy, Tequila, Whiskey, Vodka, Gin or Rum and toast the new year.

Foodservice Solutions® specializes in outsourced business development. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities or a new menu product segment and brand and menu integration strategy.  Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma WA is the global leader in the Grocerant niche visit us on our social media sites by clicking one of the following links: Facebook,  LinkedIn, or Twitter

C-stores New Electricity equals New Products

Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® understands that consumers are dynamic not static and that brands need to be dynamic as well.  One way he suggest convenience stores stay dynamic is with new Ready-2-Eat, Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food and new CPG products as they help drive the new electricity need to elevate brand relevance. Success does leave clues

Johnson continues to pointed out over the past several years that empowering consumer choice around grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh food would garner incremental customer transactions, larger share of food dollars, and larger share of stomach.

C-store are that are going to thrive will new a new electricity to drive incremental top line sales and bottom line profits with new strategic partnerships. According to Johnson; partnerships specifically strategic partnerships with CPG manufactures that offing new product in 2018. 

Johnson stated “in my minds-eye the new electricity must be very efficient for the supply chain and includes such things as digital hand held marketing, local fresh food,  grocerant consultants, better-for-you food and food products, urban farming (produce, seafood, etc.), autonomous delivery, cashier-less retail, cash-less payments, delivery, and voice ordering.

The next generation of C-store retail must embrace artificial intelligence revolution while simultaneously embracing food that is portable, fresh, with differentiation that is familiar but with a twist.  IRI in a New Product Pacesetter report found: “All of the top 10 convenience channel Pacesetters are pure indulgence products (except for bottled water), which reflects consumers' ongoing desire for healthier-for-you indulgences”

Thousands of new brands hit retail shelves during 2017, with 49 percent of the top-ranking brands hailing from small manufacturers — defined as those earning less than $1 billion annually — and accounting for 26 percent of Pacesetter dollars. Overall, the top-selling 200 new brands captured cumulative year-one sales of more than $4.6 billion.

Note IRI found that the top 100 food and beverage champions, median year-one sales were $14.5 million, excluding outlier Halo Top, which earned year-one sales of $342.2 million (ranked No. 1).

All of the top 10 New Product Pacesetter brands were new market entrants, though many of these benefited from the equity their manufacturers already enjoy in the marketplace, like Dunkin' Donuts Iced Coffee (No. 3), Nestlé Splash (No. 4) and Hershey's Cookie Layer Crunch (No. 7), according to IRI.

In the dinner sector, the largest launch was SmartMade by Smart Ones (No. 6), a frozen meal inspired by ingredients and cooking techniques used at home. Eighteen of the 76 food Pacesetters are breakfast solutions, which cater to consumers at both ends of the wellness spectrum by offering both indulgent flavor experiences, such as Kellogg's Cinnamon Frosted Flakes (No. 19) and healthier, on-the-go options, like Jimmy Dean Delights Frittatas (No. 23).

So just what is your New Electricity? Success does leave clues www.FoodserviceSolutions.us  is the global leader in grocerant niche business development.  We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities.  If you are manufacture do you have an ideal target client? If you are a retailer are you looking for the perfect ideation? Call 253-759-7869 Email: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us